Red Force brace for tough Guyana challenge

MATCH-WINNING PERFORMANCE: T&T Red Force spinner Khary Pierre in action during his spell of three for 14, against the West Indies Academy in their CG United Super50 Cup match, at Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground, The UWI St Augustine Campus, on Thursday. Pierre was named Player of the Match as T&T cruised to an emphatic nine-wicket win. —Photo: CWI MEDIA
MATCH-WINNING PERFORMANCE: T&T Red Force spinner Khary Pierre in action during his spell of three for 14, against the West Indies Academy in their CG United Super50 Cup match, at Sir Frank Worrell Memorial Ground, The UWI St Augustine Campus, on Thursday. Pierre was named Player of the Match as T&T cruised to an emphatic nine-wicket win. —Photo: CWI MEDIA

(Trinidad Express) The Trinidad and Tobago Red Force will be seeking consistency when they face the Guyana Harpy Eagles in their fifth round match of the CG United Super50 Cup, today, at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain, from 9 a.m.

With three wins in four matches, defending champions Red Force remain in contention for a top-two finish with 37 points.

A win today will keep them along that trajectory. But their opponents are in a must-win situation to keep their campaign alive.

The Harpy Eagles are on 28 points after five rounds of matches. The Guyanese have just one win, with two losses, while two of their fixtures were forced to be abandoned.

With two matches left in their group stage campaign, the Harpy Eagles will have to win both to stay in the top four and qualify for the semi-finals.

T&T skipper Joshua Da Silva is expecting a tough match against the Guyana opposition today. The home team’s latest win against the West Indies Academy on Thursday was a welcome boost for the defending champs as the tournament begins to reach a climax.

“We had a good bounce back from the previous outing, when we lost our first game in a while in the 50-over format (against the Leeward Islands Hurricanes),” Da Silva told the Express yesterday.

T&T suffered a surprising reversal against the Hurricanes last Sunday at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Tarouba.

However, they returned to winning ways against the West Indies Academy at The UWI, St Augustine, on Thursday.

Da Silva said his bowlers took advantage of the assistance on offer and were able to restrict the Academy to 135, with spinners Khary Pierre, Yannic Cariah, Bryan Charles and even Jason Mohammed getting wickets.

“With bat, we saw the consistency of Amir Jangoo (70 not out) and (Kjorn) Ottley (42 not out) got a not out as well so that is good for him,” Da Silva continued.

“Moving into the clash against Guyana, obviously we know the competition is going be a lot harder against them because they are a very good team. It is about doing the right things for a long period of time and hopefully we will see the consistency we need to get the results we want,” he added.